Johann Heinrich Westphal (January 31, 1794 – 1831) was a German
astronomer. Not to be confused with
J. G. Westphal, who discovered the
lost periodic comet
A lost comet is one which was not detected during its most recent perihelion passage. This generally happens when data is insufficient to reliably calculate the comet's location or if the solar elongation is unfavorable near perihelion passage. ...
20D/Westphal
20D/Westphal was a periodic comet with an orbital period of 61 years. It fits the classical definition of a Halley-type comet with (20 years < period < ...
in 1852.
He was born in
Schwerin. His professional career was spent mostly in
Italy. He translated
Giuseppe Piazzi's ''Lezioni elementari di astronomia ad use del real osservatorio di Palermo'' into German. He died in
Sicily.
1794 births
1831 deaths
People from Schwerin
19th-century German astronomers
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